I came across a video online that immediately got my attention. In it, a young girl seems to be behaving very strangely. I couldn’t help but read further – and I am so glad I did!
The video was posted online by Amanda Lewis, a mother from Eastern Oregon USA.
On a recent morning, her daughter could not even stand. Her limbs seemed to not be functioning properly and she was understandably very upset. The mother followed her instinct and took her to the hospital.
And it’s so good that she did; it turns out the girl had “tick paralysis” – something I’d never heard of but which could affect just anyone.
Read the mother’s important warning below, and make sure to pass her story on.
We had a little bit of a scary morning today…luckily everything is ok but I wanted to share this so the rest of you are aware.
Evelyn started acting a little weird last night around bed time. She didn’t want to stand up after her bath to get into her pajamas. I helped her and got her in bed. She was a little fussy last night and I ended up sleeping in bed with her all night.
This morning she was having a hard time standing. She could barely walk, or crawl, and could hardly use her arms. We took some video this morninh to send to family to see if they had any idea what could be going on. We decided to take her into the ER right after we took this video because her symptoms were getting worse, and given Lantz’s history with cancer we were quite concerned.
We got into a room quickly, thank God, and were seen almost right away. The doctor talked to us for a minute and said over the past 15 years he had seen about 7 or 8 children her age with identical symptoms and more than likely she had a tick. They looked her over, combed through her hair really well and sure enough found a tick hiding in her hair.
This condition is called tick paralysis. It can affect dogs also and can be fatal. I’m glad we took her in when we did and that it wasn’t something worse and that we found it before it got worse.
The ticks are out like crazy right now in this area so if your children or dogs start acting a little off, check them thoroughly for ticks!
I feel awful for not having seen the little bugger sooner but I never would have even thought to look for a tick. It’s crazy that a little bug can do this!
We’re still in the ER. Now that the tick has been removed, Evelyn should start feeling like herself in a couple of hours. She’s enjoying popsicles and watching cartoons
They want to monitor her for a little longer then we can go home
Crazy morning
UPDATE: I didn’t realize how widespread this video would end up! So for those of you who don’t know us personally, Evelyn is doing much better. It took her until the next morning to start acting like herself again. She is now pretty much completely back to her feisty little self. She complains a lot about her head itching but otherwise she’s just fine.
My husband and I are still in shock that this happened to our baby girl and I’m glad we were able to spread some awareness about this. It’s not terribly common for this to happen but it’s good to be aware that if your children or pets start having weakness in their limbs to look for a tick! The doctor told us that the type of tick that was found on her does not typically carry lyme disease (dog tick) but we are keeping a close eye on her anyway.
“Tick paralysis results from injection of a toxin from tick salivary glands during a blood meal. The toxin causes symptoms within 2–7 days, beginning with weakness in both legs that progresses to paralysis. The paralysis ascends to the trunk, arms, and head within hours and may lead to respiratory failure and death. The disease can present as acute ataxia without muscle weakness”
For more information on Tick paralysis:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tick_paralysis
http://www.cvbd.org/…/…/tick-paralysis/human-tick-paralysis/
I’m so thankful that we got her to the doctor quickly before her symptoms got worse and that the doctor in the ER that day had experience with this otherwise who knows how many tests they would have been doing on her trying to figure out what was wrong!
Thank you all for your kind words and support through this crazy time!
UPDATE AGAIN:
We’re located in Eastern Oregon USA. Ticks though can be found all over. They’re causing all kinds of problems on the east coast of America right now as well
See Amanda’s original post here and the video of her daughter below (wait a few seconds for the video play).
Please share this mother’s important warning with everyone you know on Facebook – you could save a life!
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